Norwegian energy company Equinor announced that it has chosen inspection service suppliers for all offshore installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
Inspection services will also be carried out at Equinor’s Norwegian onshore plants upon the execution of option agreements.
Expected to be effective from 1 January 2020, the agreements are to be signed with Aker Solutions, Axess, Oceaneering Asset Integrity and IKM Operations.
The total value of the agreements is estimated to be valued at Nkr3.5bn ($380m). Between 300 and 400 people will be employed.
Equinor chief procurement officer Peggy Krantz-Underland said: “The agreements will ensure predictability for both Equinor and the suppliers.
“They form the basis for strong long-term collaboration, allowing us to use new technologies, achieve continuous improvement and increase safety and value creation for all parties.”
The primary objective of the company behind the purchase of the inspection services is to maintain reliability, efficiency and safety across all its operations.
These inspection services will help discover installation faults in onshore and offshore oil and gas fields, as well as prevent severe damages.
According to Equinor, technologies such as ultrasound, radiography and drone inspection are applied to carry out the inspection services.
Equinor Operations Technology senior vice-president Kjetil Hove said: “We are already applying advanced ultrasound methods to reduce radiation from the use of radiography.
“These are advanced technologies that we expect to be even further developed. It is also exciting to see that drones are to mature from being a niche product to becoming standard deliveries within these services.
“This will benefit our installations, as we will have better methods for inspecting areas at height.”
